Antiquated

Have you watched this?

or this?

or this?

and found yourself completely frustrated with the complete disempowerment of women when it comes to their inheritance and property rights? I mean how completely crappy, unfair, and backwards is it that if a man does not have a son then all his wealth and property can and will be turned over to some distant perhaps completely unknown relative while his daughters may very well be left destitute. 

In Downton Abbey, it was both frustrating and sad for the family that the eldest daughter Mary was unable to inherit the property of her father the earl simply because she was a woman. I am sure I was not the only only who was surprised that this was still going on in England in 1912 (that is only 100 years ago). We had electricity and telephones before women were allowed to vote in the United States or inherit the title/property of their father in England. 

It was bad enough that is was going on in the late 1700s when Jane Austen wrote about the Dashwoods whose greedy and selfish half brother and sister-in-law left them with practically nothing of their fathers rather abundant wealth. 

Or when Mrs. Bennett worries to herself (and anyone who will listen) about whether her daughters will find suitable husbands. While this seems both silly and trivial to us today, because of the laws of the land she was genuinely worried about her daughters welfare. She did not want to marry her daughters off to get them out of the house or because she was grandbaby hungry. She knew all too well that upon the death of her husband, her entire family would be turned out of their house and the bulk of their fortune passed on to their cousin Mr. Collins. 

It was a harsh reality that even in the most developed of civilizations  women simply were not equal to men in a myriad of ways in the not so distant past. 

But did you know that while this seems ancient history to us today, it is still the reality of many women around the world? 

(for good information all in one place about this issue go here)

The following quotes are taken from "Women's Rights to Land and Property" by Marjoelin Benschop.

While lack of security of tenure affects millions of people across the world, women face added risks and deprivations: in Africa and South-Asia especially, women are systematically denied their human rights to access, own, control or inherit land and property. The vast majority of women cannot afford to buy land, and usually can only access land and housing through male relatives, which makes their security of tenure dependent on good marital and family relations. At the same time, millions of women in Asia, Africa and Latin America depend critically on land for a livelihood.

Globally, an estimated 41% of women headed households live below the locally defined poverty line and close to one third of the world’s women is homeless or lives in inadequate housing. Exclusion of women from access to land pushes them towards the cities, where they often join the ranks of the increasing number of women headed households in slum areas. In Kenya, for example, where women head 70% of all squatter households, over 25% of women slum dwellers migrated from their rural homes because
of land dispossession.

Alarming numbers of cases are reported of in-laws having evicted widows upon the death of their husband. A widow is not considered to be part of the clan and is expected to return to her parents and/or fend for herself.

There still are countries, such as Zimbabwe, Zambia, Lesotho and Kenya, where discrimination in customary and personal law matters (such as inheritance) is still permitted in their current Constitution.

This article was written in 2004 so some of the information may be a little outdated, but this is still going on. As a woman today I know I am empowered. I can work where I want, chose where to live, own land in my own name, and know that if anything happens to my husband I will not be left with nothing. It is easy for me, in my small corner of the world, to feel as if gender inequality is a thing of the past. 

However, it certainly is not. 

Where women are denied access to their land, the family is disadvantaged in many ways. Studies have show that when women in developing countries have secure rights to their land:

• Family nutrition and health improves;
• Women become less vulnerable to contracting HIV/AIDS;
• HIV-positive women may be better able to cope with the consequences of AIDS;
• Women may be less likely to be victims of domestic violence;
• Children are more likely to receive an education and stay in school longer;
• Women may have better access to micro-credit;
• Women’s participation in household decision-making in increases.

Info above from Landesa Center for Women.

Even in some countries where women are legally supposed to have their property rights, they still do not.

Some more sources for useful information if you are interested:

USAID

African Studies Quarterly

Oxfam

And landesa.org has some great information about current problems and how you can get involved. 

Please Vote

I know a request for votes is a little annoying, but it will really help the organization that is being so kind to actually pay me for my services!! Yeah, I 'm getting paid for my internship. That's hard to come by these days kids so to thank them on behalf of me for their generosity you only need to do one thing. And I promise it takes less than 2 minutes (if it takes longer let me know and I will feed you dinner or something).



Go here and vote. You have to login to your facebook and like vivint to vote. Each person is allowed one vote per day from now until August 27th. I would really like to win. Thanks guys!

And as a little treat for being so kind here are a few of my pictures from my sojourn to Ghana:

Nasty

but it's that just a strange word. Say it a few times . . . go on!

Nasty

Nasty

Nasty

Nasty

It sounds ridiculous now doesn't it? In econ class today my teacher was talking about how if people acted amoral (like econ is supposed to be) it would create nasty individuals and nasty businesses. Then I just started saying the word nasty in my head. After about 4 times, it no longer sounded like a real word.

Like the word fork . . . or bleachers. (I mean who even comes up with this nonsense?)

On another note, I experienced homelessness for about 50 minutes today. I have decided I do not like it one little bit. After coming home from the gym, I decided that it was high time to take the rapidly decomposing pumpkin that had started to leak some unknown substance all over the ground to the garbage. After finishing the deed, I returned to my front door only to find that it was locked. LOCKED! I was wearing only my gym clothes (shorts, t-shirt, tennis shoes) and luckily a jacket I had decided to put on at the last second. No keys, phone or iPod. In fact, the only thing I had apart from my clothes was my gym pass which was of absolutely no use to me.

First I tried the windows. I have been successful in the past at finding a random unlocked window and crawling through (in a skirt no less) (through the smallest window in the house) (into the bathtub). But no such luck for me today. I was locked out for reals.

Then I decided to sit on the steps. Surely someone would be home soon. Or at the very least some friend would come by and take pity on me. Once again no such luck. Then I started getting cold. It is November in Utah after all. So I got up and started walking around. This didn't really help and I just got colder. To make matters worse, I also started to get hungry.

When I started to feel really homeless was when I finally resorted to standing next to our neighbors laundry vent to keep my legs warm. The warm air that smelled like clean laundry felt really good on my legs that had been exposed to the elements for the past 40 minutes.

It was finally time to go to FHE, and upon my return an hour later I was no longer homeless. The door was thankfully unlocked and I could resume my life as a person with a home.

It felt terrible today to be completely cut off from communicating with people and to not even be able to go inside. Even the laundry room and lounge of my apartment complex are kept locked. I cannot even imagine what it must feel like to spend days, weeks or even moths at a time living like this. My brief, fairly lame experience helped remind me why I want to get an MPA degree, and I reflected on all the good I will hopefully be able to do in the world someday. Being locked out of your house, stranded in Salt Lake City or living in a developing country definitely helps develop empathy in a person. Because to some miniscule degree I understand what people are going through, my desire to help them is increased. I think that is a VERY good thing.

I am officially obsessed:

In Bronco We Trust

Saturday was one of those good days. You know, one of those good days that was extra good because you weren't even expecting it to be anything at all.

I had planned on attending the HELP reunion in the morning and then spending the day studying and doing things that are important albeit boring.

Instead, I spent the entire day with my favorite friends from Africa (that I lived with in Africa . . . they are not African). We ate pizza, talked about our favorite African memories including (but not limited to) squeeze yourselves, fierce (but really parasite) Pierce and Blurry Flurry our favorite Irish friends, the goat pee incident and Edith's reenact of said incident, the joys of wearing eyeliner and squeezing four people on one small boda boda.

Then, for the first time this season, I went to the football game. Can you say 8th row right behind the goal? I can:

Oh, yeah . . . and BYU won. About time, huh?

New favorite artist: Ray LaMontagne

I will carefully choose my favorite song and post it soon. I haven't picked one quite yet.

Some Uganda Fun

I'm on youtube:

We had a reunion party last night, and it was really nice to remember how fun this past summer was.

Party Time Part Deux commences Saturday evening with a rousing BANG! tournament. I'm sure complete chaos will ensue.

Wanderlust

So I was watching You've Got Mail for probably the one hundredth time today (actually I'm watching it right this very minute.) Meg Ryan's character says, "So much of what I see reminds me of something I read in a book, when shouldn't it be the other way around?"

Every time I hear that part I just think, "Amen, sister." Of course I have read lots of books, but then again I've been lots of places, too. I still want to travel to so many places though. I want to go to Greece, New Zealand, Alaska, New Guinea, India, Ireland, Romania, Hungary, Turkey (thank you to The Historian for inspiring me to go to those last three), Russia, Japan, China, France, Finland . . . well you get the idea. In fact, there isn't really anywhere I do NOT want to go.

Geez . . . so many places for how short life is really.

Speaking of travel, I went to Africa this summer. Remember? Yes?

Enjoy:

Spot the rhino in the above picture and you win a prize!

I don't really want an answer. I just want to send this cosmic question out into the void. So good night, dear void.

Hello

My name is Rachel.

I used to be an excellent blogger.

With 10ish days left in Uganda, and most of the team gone I figure I need to update just a bit on my rather incredible summer. Keep reading and you'll be rewarded with lots of pictures at the end!

First, nothing can ever adequately prepare you for visiting a 3rd world country. Sure, you can read the articles, look at the pictures and hear others tell you about it. But you really do not understand until you have seen it with your own eyes, immersed yourself in the culture and really lived it. It really is a whole other world over here and unfortunately no matter how many pictures I post or things I write about I don't think I could ever really do it justice. The culture is completely different--sometimes infuriatingly so--but surprisingly (or maybe not so surprisingly) people are much the same anywhere you go. The people here may be dirt poor but for the most part they are so happy. Life moves at a slower pace here and people just don't stress about the unimportant things. I think this is something I could definitely learn a lesson from.

Things here start notoriously late, but hey it's ok. You just have to learn to go with it. Even though English is technically the official language here, the children grow up speaking Luganda. Some of them do not even start learning English until Primary 3. Therefore, there is somewhat of a language barrier. Most of the time this just keeps things interesting, but when trying to work with a partner it can be quite frustrating.

Also, there is so much to be done here. This country has so far to go. I nearly always feel inadequate when I look at the need that is around me every day knowing that there is only so much I am capable of doing both physically and financially. Rather than let this get me down though, I have tried to let it inspire me to throw myself into the things I can do and do them well.

I love how hospitable people are here. You are treated like family. It is a rare occurrence indeed when you visit someone's home and do not at least get one soda forced upon you. Even though I will be the first to admit I will not miss matooke one little itty bit, I certainly love those wonderful people who heap our plates with it when we are invited to dinner at their house. Church is also the same here. I love love love how it does not matter where in the world you go to church. It will always been the same. The gospel is the same and the Spirit is the same.

I love how excited the children are to see you whether it's on the streets, a their schools or at church. Getting chased down the street with accompanying yells of "Mzungu" just so they can give you a bonga (fist bump)is a pretty great experience even if it is exasperating at times.

I will not miss being crushed in a smelly taxi with four (and sometimes even five) people on a row made for three with a chicken under my feet and a backpack in my lap next to a window that has been screwed shut in 95 degree weather. Riding in the back of a taxi is the worst because the bumps are extra terrible back there. Taxis, with their next to none seat cushions are also the prime place to get numb bum.
Numb bum-numbness in your bum from prolonged sitting in an uncomfortable position on things such as taxis, bodas, school benches, floors, plastic chairs, river rafts, buses, and so on and so forth.
However, I do love the organized chaos that is the public transportation system here. From our house you can hop onto a taxi or a boda to the nearest taxi stage and from there eventually end up anywhere in Uganda you could possibly want to go--Kampala, Jinja, Sipi, Mbale, Masaka, the equator, Rwanda--well you get the idea.

Nor will I miss the Uganda phrase "what?". Let me explain:
Many people here, especially the teachers, ask questions while they are talking to you. I have still yet to figure out when you are or are not supposed to answer. For example, we met with a teacher this week you uses this way of speaking a lot. We were talking about doing an assembly at her school. She says, "And you will do what?" Pause...look at my fellow HELP volunteer...start to answer...then she says "sell the pads."
or
"We will eat the what?"
"The Matooke"
or
"We will give them what?"
"The rubbish bins"
You can imagine how this can grate on the nerves just a bit.
(Note, your voice much go up slightly in pitch when saying what in order to make sure they know you are asking a question and who I am to question a Ugandan cultural practice)

One of my favorite projects I have been working on this summer got started a little too late unfortunately. I think it really has the potential to be great if only we can get it all done in time. A couple of us have adapted an already existing program that provides reusable sanitary pads for girls during their menstrual period. Along with providing the pads, we educate both the girls and the boys on puberty, menstruation, development, etc. We have teamed up with the Rotaract Club at Uganda Christan University to help us implement this program and sustain it after we leave. Not only am I super interested in this project but I also love working with Ugandan college students. It is a fun experience to make friends and work with people here the same age as me. I also really love this project because I have been involved with the entire process of planning and implementing it. We go to our first school on Tuesday and I do hope it goes well.

A safari is most definitely planned. Seven of the remaining nine of us are going to Murchison Falls next weekend (Aug 13-15) and I am more than a little excited. Let's be honest, this trip would be mostly wasted if I didn't at least go on a safari while I was here. We will see giraffes, elephants, rhinos, hippos, alligators, chimps and 50/50 chance to see a lion. EEEEEEEEE!! I can't wait.

Oh, and did you know that the tallest waterfall in Africa is in Uganda? No?
Well it is.
Did you also know you can repel down said waterfall? No?
Well you can...and I did.
All 100 meters of it! I conquered that rock if I do say so myself.
It was quite possibly my very favorite weekend here in Uganda.

Just some things I've been doing regularly here:
Teacher trainings
HIV/AIDS awareness assemblies
Sanitary pads project
Recycling project
Football with the kiddies (it's been awhile since I've done that one though)
Helping cook over a charcoal stove and cutting vegetables in my hands with a handle less knife.
Showering in cold water
Not shaving my legs (except maybe a big MAYBE once a week)













Now I must do what?
Say good night!

Some things I've learned

Just wanted to impart some African wisdom on you all. (or maybe it is just wisdom I have learned in Africa)

1.) Lunch should NEVER EVER cost more than $.35 For approximately 700 Ugandan shillings you can have a chapati with two eggs, salt, tomatoes and onions. What more could you want?
2.) When riding bodas in Kampala it is best to just close your eyes until it's over. When the locals tell you to avoid riding them you know it's dangerous.
3.) Pineapple Novida is my new diet Dr. Pepper. I can't decide whether it's good or bad that they don't have it in the states.
4.) Only having one kind of banana in the United States is ridiculous. The average mid size farm here has at least 4 different varieties.
5.)I will be using the Lugandan phrases for Come (Jangu) and I will beat you (Ja kuku ba) for the rest of my life. I am not sure if I spelled those right.
6.) African scout and guide meetings and bonfires beat any I have attended in the states hands down.
7.) Showering every other day is more than adequate.
8.) Wear your Chaco tan and resulting blisters from said Chacos with pride. I know I for one have certainly earned it.
9.) It does not matter how long you stay here and how many times you ride a boda (or how skilled you become at riding side saddle) the boda drivers will still continue to laugh at you when you ride.
10.) There are few things I have done in my life that were more anticlimactic than visiting the equator. I did however meet a wonderful family in Masaka the same day. And the waffle I ate there was more exciting than the equator even if it was slightly overpriced. And maybe not worth all the dust I ate whilst waiting to catch another taxi home.
11.) The US postal service in Maryville, TN has absolutely no idea how long it takes a package to travel to Uganda. Just saying. Their 10 days have now turned into about a month and still no package. I want the second hunger games book!!

Blogger is being weird right now so no pictures today! I will try soon. I promise! I hope that my bad blogging habits of late do not make that promise sound empty.

Sula Bulungi!

deNILE

I know, I know . . . I am extremely lame. I’m a bad blogger. However, in my defense internet here is expensive and there are so many other exciting things to do that I just can’t help but neglect my blogging duties. I especially apologize to Jessica who specifically requested more blogs.

Also, I am sorry about never even responding to your complaint. Rest assured that it did not fall on deaf ears.

I’ve been up to some very exciting things here!

It's been over a month  since my arrival in Africa. Although I cannot honestly say that I have loved every minute of it, it’s been pretty darn close. I have had the chance to work in schools, teach a business class, volunteer at a clinic, develop a business plan, raft the Nile . . . yes raft the Nile. This girl can really say Class V rapids now. As a matter of fact, I have even swam through the Class IV rapids/maybe thought I was going to drown for about half a minute.

The food here is pretty good. Lots of fried food: samosas, chapatti, rolex, fry bread, etc. However, I must say I really, really miss my American food which is why I was more than excited to gorge myself on pizza and milkshakes in Uganda’s capital city of Kampala twice.

A plan for a safari is also in the works. More details to come. Also heads up for some posts in the indeterminate future about Mzungu Pancakes, numb bum, nasty hamburgers, football and a pending adventure to western Uganda (maybe).

Byee Muzungu

That's what the kids chant at us as we walk down the street here. There is even a little dance that one kid adds to go with the words. It's fun here to get to wave at the children when walking down the streets. I feel as if I shouldn't make it too much of a habit thought because it may be construed as creepy once I get home.

We've been up to lots of fun things here. Projects are really picking up this week. I helped to run a profitable (albeit barely so) pancake/hand washing stand today in the market. We sold out of batter in less than two hours and made over 80 pancakes.

I also felt oddly accomplished last night when I succeeded to terminate a spider I discovered in the shower. Washing it down the drain at a distant with the shower head was much safer than my failed attempt to kill the last one with a soap holder. It also made me feel a little better about how much I was scared by the baby gecko that ran across the bathroom floor.

I'll let the pictures speak for themselves. I know I've been slacking with the posting, but I said I would have pictures soon and by golly here they are:

View from across the street:

Bela Bulungi!

Thankful

Since I have been here I have realized how easy I have it at home. Our standards of comfort and cleanliness are so off par to what I have become accumstomed to here in just over a week.

For instance at home I freak out when large insects make their way into my room.

Here I am just grateful that I have a mosquito net so said bug cannot land on my face while I sleep. Also I am glad there are geikos running about the house to eat the mosquitos.

At home, getting a hamburger is commonplace. Here it is the stuff dreams are made of!

Having running water indoors is so great I rarely think about the fact that it is all cold.

Showering every other day is really more than enough as long as I wipe my feet off good before going to bed at night.

Last night we had a chocolate cake, I thought I had died and gone to heaven.

On another note, I reached a major cultural milestone yesterday. I successfully rode a boda boda (motorcycle taxi) from town to our house like a lady (ie sidesaddle) with a rather large cake in my lap--in a skirt no less! I was extremely proud of myself.

Oh, and we are now living the high life in our house with a table and wait for it . . .

a couch . . .

um matresses stacked on top of each other in the living room. It is fantastic.

More pictures soon.

Pictures

See . . . I said I would post them soon.

Oh, and if you're dying for more (and I know you are) go here.

Carrying water is much harder than I ever imagined. Especially when it is uphill on the way back. Being muddy is a perpetual state of being here. This week we have been mostly going to meetings, organizing, and planning, but there are exciting things soon to come.

Time at the internet cafe runs out far too quickly.

I have planted a field, made cement, fetched water, hauled mud, and haggled over the price of a pineapple at the market.

Rest assured that I will not starve here because Nutella is readily available in the market!

And I ate a grasshopper yesterday . . . that really happened! I am disgusted with myself.

Pictures soon . . .

Here

in uganda

safe.

it's hot here

i slept under a mosquito net last night.

at least there's indoor plumbing

more later

Slacking

I've been slacking off a bit recently with the blogging. With an extended stay in a 3rd world country in my near future, I have devoted myself to watching movies instead.

I watched three this week.

Up in the Air
An Education
Bright Star

They were all beautiful films.

I spent my Saturday morning peeling and packing cabbage and oranges at the LA Food Bank.

After that I had a lunch of tamales I would rather not remember. Weird, stringy mystery meat . . . eww. 

And as of right now The Tipping Bucket is at 42%!! Care to make is 43%?! Give a dollar!

For all you people with disposable income

So I'm not one to beg for money . . .

BUT

this isn't for me anyways so here goes:



Give a dime, a nickel, a hundred bucks. You know, whatever you can afford. (You actually just need to give a dollar!)

This is a project to help implement and sustain eye care clinics in Uganda. Go HERE to check it out!

Tell all your friends!

Please!

I Want I Need

I'm going to Uganda.

I'm going to be there for almost four whole months.

I like to read.

In 2010 alone I have read:

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
The Lost Symbol
Anne of Green Gables
Anne of Avonlea
Anne of the Island
Anne's House O Dreams
Rules for Radicals
A Clockwork Orange
The Art of War
High Fidelity

Just how am I supposed to fit all that nonsense in my suitcase?

Which is why I need one of these for my trip I think:

It's a Kindle and this one is less than $70. I can upload enough books to last me for my trip and then I'm good to go for the entirety of my trip to Africa.

Brilliant, huh?